I’ve been doing quite a lot of Windows Mobile development lately coupled with SQL Server Compact 3.5 and the thing that struck me pretty quickly was how shabby the actual Microsoft tools for the job are.

Whilst you can open an SDF database in Management Studio, you can’t edit the data, or script it or do anything useful really. Using Visual Studio is a little better, as you can at least edit the data, but annoyingly despite telling VS to remember the database password, it never does.

One of the most infuriating things that I came across recently is the fact that you can’t change the order or the names of the columns once you have created them. So if you get something wrong, you have to delete the column and add it again. Shabby.

So after a bit of searching around I came across a whole range of tools devoted to working with SQL Compact databases. Most of them do a fair job, but the best one by far in my opinion is ExportSqlCe.

ExportSqlCe is an add-in for Management Studio 2008, which allows you to script out the schema and data from an SDF as well as viewing and editing the tables. Put simply this is what Management Studio should have been able to do from the off. The best bit about it is that it’s free and open source.

So if you work with SDF files, head over to CodePlex and grab yourself a copy.

http://exportsqlce.codeplex.com/

Well, it’s been a year to the day when I decided to crack on with some iPhone development, and what a year it’s been. Busy is certainly one word that would sum it up. Having plenty of work, especially at a time when many are suffering the effects of a tough financial climate, is something always to be grateful of, but sometimes it can hamper other goals.

So how far did I get with Objective-C and iPhone development? Well, I did get some done, and I am certainly a mile up on where I was a year ago, but I haven’t got anything quite completed. It’s been a learning curve for sure, but a good one.

I’ve got my Apple Developer account setup, under my new business name of side lane studios, and have plenty of app ideas lined up and ready to take shape, the first of which I was planning on completing in January. It’s about 50% complete at the moment, so I was going to give myself a window to knuckle down with it and submit it to Apple for inclusion in the App Store. Then I came across MonoTouch and everything changed.

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So you’re a long serving Windows user who has been seduced by the sexy lines and simplicity of the iPhone and now all of a sudden you find yourself standing in the Apple store with your credit card in your hand and a MacBook under your arm. All good so far.

You’re in unfamiliar territory already and feeling slightly uneasy, but with a copy of Microsoft Office in the bag you’re feeling comfortable. You know Office. You know how to use 10% of Word, and at least 5% of Excel, and Outlook keeps you in contact via the Exchange server with the office. Hmm, wait a minute, there seems to be some mistake where’s Outlook? Ent what? What the hell is this Entourage rubbish?

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